SuiteSports Game of the Week: St. John's at Shepherd Hill

Shepherd Hill, and it's powerful offensive line, hosts our Game of the Week against St. John's Friday night.

By Connor Evans (@RonnocEvans)

This week’s Suite Sports Game of the Week is a heavyweight matchup between two Central Mass powerhouses. The St. Johns Pioneers (1-0) will head to Shepherd Hill (0-1) and attempt to pick up huge back-to-back wins to open the season, after defeating Catholic Memorial last week.

Shepherd Hill, despite being the host, may have to work uphill a bit. The team faces controversy as former Holy Name star running-back Kevin Mensah is being barred from the field by MIAA rules. In order to show support for Mensah, Shepherd Hill head coach Chris Lindstrom sat out the Rams' season-opening loss to Shrewsbury.

Expect to see the same thing again this week.

Ed. Note- Since the publishing of this story, coach Lindstrom has announced he WILL coach, and that both schools are making progress on getting Mensah back on the field.

St. John's is also dealing with a distraction off the field, as at least one player was involved in a racially-charged group chat that occurred after Doherty junior Mike Oppong took a knee during the national anthem Friday night. 

Central Mass High School Football Road Trip: St. John's (Shrewsbury)

Led by senior linebacker John Fields (49), St. John's looks to be as strong as ever on defense this year.

By Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe)

St. John's has been known for it's no-huddle "Blur" offense the past few years, run to perfection by multi-year starting quarterbacks Andrew Smiley and Tim Cassidy.

This year, however, the Pioneers replace nine starters on offense, including a new signal caller. That means St. John's could be a (gasp) defensive team in 2016, and that's not by default. Led by a trio of talented senior in the front seven, and a massively talented junior class, the Pioneers are poised to be one of the best defensive teams in Central Mass.

But oh yeah, they also have the pieces to again be explosive on offense.

I caught first-look at St. John's Saturday in their annual scrimmage against Brockton. For a full write-up of that scrimmage, head over to ESPN Boston. For more on what to expect from the Pioneers this year, continue below.